Incorporation of planetary boundary layer dynamics in a numerical model of long-range air-pollutant transport

Abstract

A numerical model of long-range air-pollutant transport is developed, in which a simple planetary boundary layer (PBL) is incorporated. The pollution field results from the superposition of discrete ‘puffs’ of pollutants which are emitted periodically in different regions. The instantaneous sources in the different cells are approximated by rotational ellipsoids with Gaussian concentration distributions. The puff movement due to the external flow is followed by the displacement of the centroid. The expansion of the puff is modelled by nonisotropic Fickian diffusion. A simple barotropic PBL model is used to study the PBL influence. This model gives the flow velocity and the vertical turbulent exchange coefficient, which depend on the external parameters Ro and S — Rossby number and stratification parameter. The model performance is investigated by special test runs. The dependence of the pollution field on source height, stability conditions and vertical motions is shown.